The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits and more specifically to techniques and circuitry for reducing or preventing output noise for integrated circuits.
Integrated circuits (ICs) or "chips" are the building blocks of electronic systems. Electronics are used in many applications such as computers, networking, telecommunications, electronic commerce, and the internet. Some examples of electronic systems include computers, workstations, servers, telephone networks, automotive electronic ignition, network, and many others. In a system, there are many potential sources of noise. As an example, an integrated circuit generates noise when its outputs switch. Even more noise is generated when many outputs of one or more integrated circuits switch at the same time. There are many other sources of noise such as cross-coupling noise from signals propagating through the traces of a printed circuit (PC) board, RF noise or interference, or poor grounding.
It is desirable to minimize the amount of noise generated in a system. Depending on the severity, electronic noise may lead to logic errors in a system or even worse, cause the entire system to stop functioning. For example, the noise may lead to errors when handling an electronic commerce transaction. The noise may cause a computer system to crash. The noise from one integrated circuit may cause another integrated circuit in the system to malfunction.
As can be appreciated, there is a need for techniques and circuitry to reduce or prevent the noise in an integrated circuit.